Chapter 41 Night in Gasara
Twilight wrapped itself in a curtain around the town of Gasara.
The large gate at its entrance was closed. Here and there on the giant wall circling the town, torches burned and sputtered, shooting sparks into the sky. There seemed to be more torches now than when Wataru had last been here. There’s a need for more security, I guess.
Still, even in the midst of all the Halnera turmoil, there had been little rioting in Gasara. More or less, it was business as usual for everyone.
Initially, there had been some fear that Gasara would be susceptible to infiltrators from the North. Because the town was a popular destination point for traders, many believed outsiders would attempt to spread the tenets of the Old God. Yet that was not the case. People who knew the real conditions in the North were less susceptible to rumors. The ankha in Gasara knew first-hand that simple faith in the Old God wouldn’t save them from Halnera.
Most significantly, Gasara had Kutz the Rosethorn, widely regarded as the toughest branch chief in the land. That alone was a huge difference from Lyris. The truth about Halnera didn’t faze her, nor did she let it concern the people in her town. If the Goddess must choose someone to protect Vision, what business was it of theirs to protest? The one chosen by the Goddess was given a great and important task. They should be proud, not quivering with fear.
When people came to her, frightened and worried, she would laugh them away. “Don’t be so obsessed with yourself. The Goddess sees all. I hardly think she would rely on a sniveling coward who’s afraid to die for such a vital task. Sorry, chap, but you were never in the running to be the sacrifice.”
Wataru stood on the watchtower, looking down on the town. The top level was about six stories high. The guard had warned him when he started climbing the ladder.
“If you must climb to the top, boy, I won’t stop you. Just remember, once you start climbing, don’t look down until you’re all the way to the top.”
“Sure thing.”
“You can still turn back, you know.”
“I like heights.”
“Suit yourself.”
Following the guard’s advice, Wataru didn’t look down as he climbed. When he reached the top platform, he stretched his arms and legs, feeling the evening breeze against his cheek. When he looked down he felt himself swoon. Thankfully there was a railing to hold on to.
The guard behind him wore a rope around his waist, carried a megaphone made of copper over his shoulder, and stood with his arms crossed. Every five minutes, he turned to look east, west, south, and north. Three guards per day took turns watching over the town.
Lamps flared in the countless windows of Gasara. Already the lively sounds of customers talking and laughing spilled out of taverns and lodgings. Steam rose from various windows, and the hearty smell of stew drifted through the air. At their post, darbaba stood freshly washed and fed, the dirt of their long journey cleaned away. Next to them, a group of waterkin sat around talking and smoking. From somewhere came the sound of a stringed instrument being plucked.
Wataru turned his eyes beyond the town walls to look out on the vast grasslands surrounding Gasara. Here and there, he could see outcroppings of rock in between darker patches where copses stood. Everything was dyed a dark pink by the setting sun, still and silent at the ending of the day. A flock of birds like dark specks shot across the sky, disappearing toward the forest in the distance.
Wataru took a deep breath, resting his elbows on the railing, and looked up at the night sky.
The Blood Star.
It shone a brilliant crimson. Yet, perhaps on account of the twilight, it did not look so ominous tonight. If Wataru reached out and plucked it from the night sky, it would make a nice pendant for Meena.
Wataru stared at it for a long time, trying not to blink. The Blood Star winked first. Wataru felt like it was smiling at him. What are you so worried about, boy?
Wataru, Kee Keema, and Meena had come back to Gasara after their confrontation with Mitsuru in Sono. Once it became clear that Wataru would become one of the sacrifices, there was nothing to do but wait. And if that was to be his fate, Wataru wanted to wait here, in the first town he had come to in Vision, where he had met his friends, where he had taken the Highlander’s oath.
Meena had cried a lot on the road from Sono. Kee Keema had been silent for the most part, and it seemed like his darbaba, too, was grumpier than usual.
Wataru asked Meena to sing for him. She had always sung earlier on in their trip, swinging back and forth on the darbaba cart. Meena nodded and began to sing in her beautiful voice. But before she could finish her first song, her voice choked, and she veered off key.
Then Wataru tried to sing. He would attempt one of Meena’s songs, or sometimes, he would sing a song he remembered from the real world.
Back in Gasara, Kee Keema reunited with the other darbaba drivers and went out on patrol with the Highlanders. Meena worked with the dog-eared doctor at the small hospital in town. Wataru once again started working for Kutz, going on patrols like Kee Keema or helping Trone with his paperwork.
“Been busy of late. Haven’t had much time to sift through all these files,” Trone explained, though it was clear he just didn’t like doing paperwork. But he did enjoy making others do his paperwork for him.
After their return, Wataru told Kutz everything. He wasn’t expecting any sympathy. He just wanted her to know the details, so that she would be prepared when word got out that he was to be chosen.
As expected, Kutz didn’t seem particularly concerned. “Understood,” she said simply. “Living in a lodge isn’t very comfortable, I’d imagine. Why don’t you move in here. There’s a storeroom on the second floor; you can clean it up and stay there if you like. If you need anything else, just tell Trone, and he’ll get it for you.”
And that was all.
When the time comes. Kutz said it as though she were talking about going shopping for groceries or making an appointment. After that, she made not a mention of Halnera or the sacrifice—which Wataru took to be her way of showing that she cared.
Wataru had climbed the watchtower because he wanted to see the Blood Star from as close as possible. I’m not scared—which was a lie, but he had made his peace with what was to come. He wanted to let the Blood Star know. Maybe it is a lie. Maybe I really am frightened. He wasn’t sure himself. That’s why he felt he had to say it. If he stood up there, looked the Blood Star in the eye, and was able to say it, it would become true. A least, he hoped it would.
It had already been eight days since their encounter with Mitsuru in Sono. He was probably already in the north by now. Try as he might, there was no way Wataru could hope to catch up. Two minus one was one. That’s all he could think about. In fact, he made himself think about it. There was nothing else for him to do.
Above his head, the Blood Star winked and sparkled. Its rhythm seemed steady, no alteration in the pattern. When would Halnera end? It sure is taking her a long time to choose her other sacrifice.
“Oh?” The tower guard grunted suddenly, walking over to put a hand on the top of the ladder. “To what do we owe this unexpected honor?”
It was Kutz. She had three steps left to climb on the ladder, but instead of taking the guard’s outstretched hand, she jumped up, springing over the railing to land on top of the platform. The black leather whip hanging at her waist shone with a lustrous gleam in the twilight. For those who didn’t know the considerable skill with which she wielded it, the weapon might have looked like nothing more than a curious fashion statement, so well did it match her leather attire.
“I came to watch the sunset. I get romantic sometimes too, you know.”
Kutz had changed the style of her hair while Wataru was away from Gasara. Previously cut short, her hair now came down over her neck. She looked good. Her right shinguard and the firewyrm band on her left wrist served as crimson accents to her otherwise black leather garb.
“What’s with you? You look shocked,” Kutz chided, with her hand at her waist and her head tilted. “Stunned by my beauty, is that it? I should think you’d be used to it by now.”
Wataru blushed. He had been stunned, it was true. Kutz was beautiful, there was no denying it. If he hadn’t come to Vision, Wataru was sure he never would have met a woman as gorgeous, and as capable, as she was.
She turned to the guard who stood chuckling at the edge of the platform. “I’d like to have a few words with the boy here. Can I borrow your post awhile?”
“Of course,” the guard nodded. Picking up his copper megaphone, he passed it to Wataru. “Then I’ll let you hold on to this while you’re here.”
“Right. I’ll let you know if I see anything.”
“That’ll do just fine,” the guard said, disappearing down the ladder.
Kutz walked over and leaned her elbows on the railing. She looked out over the grasslands in the fading light. “This your first time up here?”
“Yes.”
“Great view, isn’t it? I think this is my favorite spot in town.”
“I like it too.”
“You should see the sunrise. Even when it’s raining, or there’s a mist, the view from here never disappoints.”
Kutz shook her head, brushing the hair out of her eyes, and looked up at the night sky. “I was born in a small frontier town in the mountains. Nothing but fields cut into the mountainside and a few simple huts in the middle of a little forest. I remember when I first came out to Gasara and saw the grasslands. What a shock that was. I never imagined the world could be so vast.”
This was the first time Kutz had ever spoken of her home. Wataru wondered if she had left by herself. How old had she been? Did she have some reason for leaving?
Kutz didn’t say anything else. She and Wataru stood side by side in comfortable silence. After some time had passed, Kutz suddenly spoke. “Got a lot of nerve, don’t you.”
Wataru spun around. “What?”
“Not you. That,” she said, pointing a finger at the Blood Star hanging in the northern sky. “Shining all pretty up there like a jewel. Too high up for anyone to grab and put in its place.”
Wataru smiled. “I bet your whip might just be able to reach it.”
“I’ve got half a mind to try,” Kutz said, her hand going down to the hilt of the whip quelled at her belt. Then she grinned and looked at Wataru.
Her eyes weren’t smiling. They were frighteningly serious. The smile faded from Wataru’s face.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” she said, making it sound like less of a question and more of a confirmation. I know how you’ll answer, I’m just making sure.
“Yeah…I think.”
“You give up easy.”
Wataru shrugged. “I guess I feel like there’s nothing I can do, so why bother?” Wataru hunched his shoulders, thrusting his hands in his pockets. His fingers brushed the edge of the wyrmflute. “On the road back to Gasara I was tempted a few times to call Jozo and try my chances at following after Mitsuru. I could get to the north if I was riding on a dragon. But even if I did catch up with Mitsuru, I don’t think I could beat him. His magic is too powerful.”
And Wataru was one gemstone behind.
“In any case, I’m too late. I have to accept my fate—and not worry about it so much.”
Kutz stood with her arms folded in front of her. Her leather vest bulged out above her arms. Wataru stared, then blushed, and hurriedly continued, “I’m not one of many, like whoever the sacrifice from Vision is to be. I’m only one of two. I guess that makes it easier to accept.”
Kutz said nothing. Pulling a cigarette from her vest pocket, she lit it with a match, puffing in the twilight.
“Also…I don’t think I’ve told anyone this before, but the whole reason I came here to Vision in the first place was thanks to my friend—the other Traveler, Mitsuru. That’s not all. If he hadn’t come to save me, I would’ve died. Twice—once in the real world and once in Vision. He saved my life.”
When Mom turned the gas on in the apartment and when I was being dragged to the guillotine at Triankha Hospital. “I owe him a debt. Maybe this is how I can repay that debt.”
Kutz took a drag on her cigarette and blew out a long plume of smoke. Then she stabbed it out on the railing, twirling the butt between her fingers. “You know,” she said, her tone suddenly changing. She was staring out over the grasslands. “I don’t care to hear your excuses.”
It’s not excuses, that’s how I really feel. Wataru was going to protest, but something in Kutz’s voice made him hold back.
“I won’t ask if you’re scared of being sacrificed. I don’t care if you’re fine leaving Kee Keema and Meena to mourn, or if you’re happy not meeting the Goddess. You came here to Vision to change your fate. If you become the sacrifice, you won’t be able to do that. I won’t stand here and ask you if you’re okay with that.”
Her words were strong and she spoke with no hesitation. “You left your mother in the real world when you came here. You won’t ever be able to see her again. Right now, she’s worried to death, and she’ll never know what happened to you. She’ll wait for you and waste the rest of her life in loneliness. But I won’t ask how you can stand to do such a thing to your mother.”
You are asking. Pain stabbed at Wataru’s heart.
“You’re a smart kid. Brave too.” Kutz praised him in angry tones. “That’s why I’m sure you’ll have a suitable answer no matter what I ask. I’m sure your answers will be satisfactory. After all, you’ve had plenty of time to convince yourself. You’ve had lots of practice.”
Wataru was silent. He felt like she was expecting him to say something, but he couldn’t find anything worth saying.
Darkness slid over dusk, and the brightness in the sky gave way to the deepening violet of night. Whereas moments before the only light in the sky had been the Blood Star, now other stars appeared around it.
Her back to the starry sky, Kutz faced Wataru and looked him straight in the eye. “There is one question I would have your answer to.”
Wataru swallowed and took a step back.
“Are you just going to let Mitsuru go?”
“Let him go?”
“Are you just going to let him get away with this?”
Wataru blinked, uncomprehending. “What do you mean? What is he getting away with?”
“What isn’t he getting away with!” Kutz slapped the railing with the palm of one hand. “Think about it. What has he done? What is he doing? At Triankha Hospital, in Sono, he used his magic to kill dozens, maybe hundreds of people. The port town of Sono lies in shambles because of him. What do you think about that?”
Wataru was flustered. It felt like the carefully laid pieces of armor he had put over his heart were coming undone. “B-but…”
“But what?”
“At Triankha—he had to do that. He was up against those fanatics. If he hadn’t struck back, they would’ve killed him, and neither of us would’ve been able to get out of the magic barrier they created.” And… and… Wataru’s mind raced, looking for more excuses. “He’s done good things too. Like in Maquiba. He used his magic to put out a wildfire there. If the fire had been left to burn, the whole town would have been ruined.”
But then Wataru remembered how Mitsuru had turned down the Precept-King of Dela Rubesi’s request. He simply didn’t have time, he said. Yet he did find the fugitive—not to capture him but to use him to cross to the north.
“If he’s such a powerful magician, then I’m sure he could have found more subtle means to achieve his ends. If he wanted to, I’m sure he could have found a way without hurting and killing people from Vision and destroying our towns. Why didn’t he?”
Wataru took a step back. Kutz pressed on. “Let me answer for you. It’s because this Mitsuru kid doesn’t care a lick about Vision. As long as he reaches the Tower of Destiny and meets the Goddess, he’s happy to leave and never look back. I doubt he’d ever set foot in our world again. That’s why he thinks it doesn’t matter whom he hurts or what trouble he causes. Even if he should leave a mountain of corpses in his wake—as he has—who cares? Advancing toward his goal by the fastest possible means is paramount to all other concerns.”
Kutz reached out, grabbing Wataru by the shoulder. “And you’re okay with this? Do you think what he’s doing is right?”
Is it right? Is it wrong? I don’t think…
“Mitsuru is my friend,” Wataru said in a small voice. No matter how deep he reached, that was the only answer he could come up with.
“I didn’t ask you that. I asked whether you agreed with the methods he’s chosen.”
Kutz pushed Wataru and turned away from him. Wataru staggered back and grabbed the railing for support.
“After he’s gone to the north, I’m sure he’ll keep doing what he does, you know. If something stands in his way, he’ll rip it up from its roots and toss it aside. Even if he has to walk over a mountain of rubble and dead bodies, he’ll keep walking without a moment’s regret.”
“B-but Mitsuru…” Wataru spoke haltingly. “I think he has to do what he does…that’s how much he wants to change his fate! His lot in life was so bad, he’ll do anything…He’s much more determined…much more determined than I am.”
Kutz whirled around so fast her hair spun up behind her. “And that justifies any means? You’d forgive him what he’s done? If it’s to get back something you’ve lost, to make amends for something bad that happened to you, does it not matter what you do to anyone else? Think of what you’re saying! I’ll ask you again. Do you think he’s right? Can you forgive him?”
Wataru didn’t have an answer. Not an ounce of pride remained in his heart.
“The Northern Empire is a serious threat to us, yes. But there are many people living up there, same as here. Not all of them agree with the policies of their emperor. Some of them have been beaten down; they’re suffering. You said Mitsuru did what he did at Triankha because he had no other choice, because he was dealing with those fanatics? So, by your reasoning, he’s free to do whatever he likes to the people of the north? They are mostly believers in the Old God too, you know.”
The darkness around them grew deeper. Stars now filled the night sky, but the brightest lights came from Kutz—her eyes flared with rage. “You said the emperor has the last gemstone Mitsuru is looking for, correct? I’m sure he’ll go through with his plan of giving the designs for the powered boat to the emperor. That would make both Mitsuru and the emperor of the north very happy, to be sure. Good for them. But what happens next? The North builds their powered boats. There is a war. Thousands of people die. Do you think that’s right? Can you forgive that? Do you just stand here, mouth shut, head in your hands, pretending not to see?”
At last, Wataru looked up at Kutz. “What are you saying I should do? What can I do?”
“You’re asking me? You should be asking yourself.”
Myself. The answer’s in me…
Hands back on the railing, eyes peering out into the darkness, Kutz spoke. “You say Mitsuru is your friend. But, Wataru, even if they’re friends, even if they’re relatives, even if they’re lovers, when someone does something that isn’t right, it isn’t right. If you feel in your heart that they are wrong, you need to follow those feelings.”
Kutz’s slender fingers gripped the railing tightly. “I once had an argument with a man I loved, a long time ago.”
Wataru looked up at her intently.
“It was more than ten years ago now. There was a man, a killer. He murdered many to satisfy his greed. And he was very clever, terribly clever. He spun lies to deceive those around him, never letting us glimpse the truth.
“But one day we took a chance and set a trap for him. It was a chance like none other we’d ever had or would never have again. I can’t tell you how happy I was.”
The trap backfired, said Kutz. The criminal was eventually released.
“We argued for days. But in the end, the killer was set free. It’s true, we baited him. That was the only way we could bring him to justice. And we were told we were wrong. We were indicted. The killer walked away and laughed at us.”
Within two weeks, the killer entered a merchant’s house to rob him and murdered the entire family. But his luck had run out, and he was caught at the scene of the crime.
“What happened next? He was hanged. But, if we’d never let him go in the first place, he wouldn’t have been able to rob and kill that one last time. Even if it was illegal, what we had done was clearly the right thing to do. I believe that even to this day.”
A spark of understanding went off in Wataru’s head. “Wait…the one who indicted you…”
“Boris Ronmel. At the time, he was a Highlander like myself. Now he’s Captain of the Knights of Stengel, of course. You’ve met him, haven’t you?”
Trone had told Wataru that, a long time ago, Kutz had been dumped by Captain Ronmel.
“Boris upheld the law above all else. He supported the Senate too. And the branch chiefs, they listened to his opinions. But I thought people’s lives were more important than all that. Yes, I went against the law. But I don’t regret it for a moment. That’s why I could never forgive him for indicting us. Nor was he able to forgive me.”
And so they had parted ways.
“You were in love with Captain Ronmel, weren’t you?”
Kutz looked at Wataru, a faint smile on her lips. “We were. But even still there are things one can’t forgive—that one shouldn’t forgive. In my mind, he’s responsible for the deaths of that unlucky merchant and his family. And I’m sure that Boris still thinks I was wrong. Oh, we’re both right in our own fashion, of course. It all depends on which side you choose to take. I wouldn’t give an inch, nor would he. I knew him better than anyone else in the world. And he knew to expect the same from me. That’s why he didn’t hesitate for one moment to indict us. That was the only way he knew to stop me.”
Wataru remembered Captain Ronmel, his clear blue eyes filled with incredible calm and wisdom, which looked as though they could see straight through to the back of his head. He shivered, imagining a face-off between Kutz and the captain.
Kutz moved silently over to Wataru’s side, stooping to put her hands on his shoulders. “Mitsuru is your friend. But if you feel what he does is wrong, you must act. You can’t stand silently by and let evil happen. Maybe you’ll never see eye to eye, but that doesn’t mean you can give up. If he’s wrong, you must tell him.” Kutz stood up from the railing.
While they were talking, the curtain of night had fallen over the grasslands. In town, torches blazed, and in the sky stars became countless scattered fragments of light.
“I…” Wataru began after a long pause. “I don’t want Mitsuru to do what he’s been doing. I don’t want him to keep hurting the people of Vision just to get to the Tower of Destiny. It’s…it’s wrong.” An image of the wreckage in Sono flashed across his mind. “But I felt like it was cowardly of me to say so. Like I was looking for some excuse to stop Mitsuru, just because I didn’t want to lose.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Kutz said softly. “That’s just an excuse you tell yourself so you can give up. If you don’t want Mitsuru to do what he’s doing, if you think what he’s doing is wrong, then you must stop him no matter what—even if he says you’re a coward.”
“Because he’s my friend?”
“No, that’s not it,” Kutz said with a sharp shake of her head. “You’re forgetting something very important.”
Wataru raised an eyebrow.
She grabbed on to Wataru’s left hand and lifted it above his head. “You’ve forgotten that you’re a Highlander.”
She gave his hand two shakes. “You swore an oath. To defend peace in Vision, to protect the word of the law. How can you just stand by and let someone destroy that peace? If you’re going to stand here and pretend you just don’t see, you’re not qualified to wear the firewyrm band.”
The red bracelet on his wrist glowed softly in the starlight. Wataru thought he could feel a warmth in it, like when he had fought for his life against Father Diamon in the Cistina Cathedral.
“It doesn’t matter that you’re a Traveler, that you might be chosen to be the sacrifice, or that you’re now in direct competition with Mitsuru. You’re a Highlander. That’s why, until the very moment you’re called by the Goddess, until the very last breath of your life, you must follow Mitsuru. You must yell until your voice is hoarse, calling him back from the chaos. You must plead with him and show him the wrong that he does—the value of those things he crushes and destroys to reach his goals. You must tell him that he is wrong, that you think he is wrong. You must stop him.”
Suddenly Wataru remembered his parting with Captain Ronmel at the observatory at Lourdes. Just as Kutz did now, he had put his hand on Wataru’s shoulder and looked him straight in the eye.
—You are a Traveler. You must follow your own course. Never forget that.
—I’m sure that Kutz the Rosethorn would say the same. She is your leader, and I would have you follow my advice as though it were hers.
He was wrong. Kutz didn’t feel the same way. She didn’t want Wataru to follow his mission to the end, she wanted him to be a Highlander.
Once again, Kutz and Ronmel were a step out of sync, yet both of them were right. And the look in their eyes when they spoke to him was exactly the same. It was funny, and at the same time, a little sad. Wataru felt his eyes sting.
The question before him now was this: Which truth do I follow? Where will I stand? Wataru looked up at Kutz and nodded slowly. She smiled and nodded back. “Then come—come with us to the north.”
“You’ve been planning this?”
“We need your help, Wataru.”